He Xiaoman eased up a little and said, “Tell us in advance next time. Or else I will get worried.”
“Mhm,” replied Lu Xia gently.
Then she walked into the living room and sat on the couch in a distracted manner.
He Xiaoman frowned and said, “Did someone from the company bully you?”
Lu Xia picked up the couch cushion to hug it to her chest and curled her legs up. She shook her head without making eye contact.
“No, they didn’t. They are pretty good to me,” said Lu Xia in a soft voice.
He Xiaoman had never seen her daughter look like this, so she could not help probe her further. “Did something happen at school?”
He Xiaoman paused as a likely suspect crossed her mind. Her face sank and she said in a thundering tone, “Did Huo Yao bully you?”
Lu Xia leaned her head onto the cushion and did not utter a word. It made her seem even more pitiful.
BANG!
He Xiaoman slammed her cup hard on the marble coffee table and said, “That stupid girl is a troublemaker. She already forced your grandmother to go back to her hometown, and now she’s bullying you in school? I don’t know what the Huos have been teaching her.”
Lu Ziming got a fright when he heard the sound of his mother’s cup banging onto the coffee table while coming downstairs.
Lu Xia was startled as well. She raised her head to look at her mother. Lu Xia forced out a laugh and said, “Mom, don’t get angry. I’m really okay.”
He Xiaoman felt even angrier. “You’re simply too kind. You don’t even speak up after getting bullied!”
He Xiaoman shook her head and picked up her phone. She swiped through her phone book. With a cold laugh, she said, “How can my daughter get bullied for no reason? I have to call the Huos to see how they…”
Suddenly, Lu Xia was terrified. She hurriedly put down the cushion in her arms and snatched He Xiaoman’s phone from her before she hit the dial button. She said, “Mom, I’m really okay. No sense in getting angry about irrelevant people.”
He Xiaoman frowned and said, “Xiaxia, give me the phone.”
Of course, Lu Xia refused. Lu Xia placed the phone out of her reach before sitting beside her. She patted her mother on the back and consoled her softly. “Mom, I’m really fine. You misunderstood.”
She paused for a couple of seconds and changed the subject. “Oh yes. The monthly test results are out. My score is 670 and I stood tenth all across the level.”
He Xiaoman’s anger dissipated a little after she got distracted by the change of topic. She said with a smile, “Your ranking improved by four to five places. Not bad.”
Since her mother’s attention was diverted, Lu Xia finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Lu Ziming had been standing at the staircase listening to the conversation. When he suddenly heard Lu Xia mentioning her grades, he scoffed. “She has to cheat even for a contest. This score of 670… tsk tsk… God knows if she earned them herself?”
Lu Xia overheard Lu Ziming’s scorning voice finding fault with her. In a tone dripping with sarcasm, she said, “Please use your brains before you speak.”
“My bad. I don’t know what brains are,” said Lu Ziming with a cheeky wave.
Lu Xia shook her head speechlessly before she said, “Lu Ziming, you…”
But He Xiaoman interrupted her in a loud voice. “Enough. Your younger brother doesn’t know any better, but what about you? Why get stubborn with him?”
In an instant, Lu Xia’s heart sank.
